Last week, the Lakeland region was thrust into the national spotlight, but it was done so for all the wrong reasons. Well, at least initially.
In a week that saw Canada officially deploy its aircraft, men and women overseas to take the fight to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and later, Parliament Hill exposed to what is being described as a “singular terrorist attack” by authorities, eyes quickly turned from the heartbreaking scenes in Ottawa, which left a young soldier dead, and gazed once more upon a small community in northeastern Alberta.
An act of mindless vandalism was carried out on the Cold Lake Mosque in the early, early hours of Friday (Oct. 24) morning – leaving the religious temple, located along Main Street in the city, with two broken windows and, disgustingly, a simple message that left a community, neigh, a country outraged.
‘Go Home'. Two simple words capable of causing so much pain. And pain is exactly what it brought, but not necessarily to those the senseless message was intended for. By noon, courtesy of TV crews from Edmonton, this act of vandalism was spreading like wildfire online through various forms of social media and later that evening it made the big time – hitting the screens of The National.
While the story initially focused on what local RCMP is calling a hate crime, it quickly turned into something else, and that is all thanks to the people of Cold Lake and the greater Lakeland region.
Shortly after this became news, it wasn't just local and provincial reporters descending on the scene, trying to find out what exactly had happened, no. Dozens of thoughtful and caring locals flocked to the site wanting to do their part to help clean up the mess. Flowers and signs, reassuring the local Muslim community that they are home, soon appeared in those broken windows in what was a clear show of local solidarity against the fool(s) who did this.
Social media soon lit up with pictures of those in the Lakeland taking turns to scrub the spray paint off the walls, with people from across the country praising the community. One particular message from a local resident that left work in order to help clean up the area simply stated, “This is what it means to be Canadian.”
And so, people of Cold Lake and indeed anybody that stopped by to help our friends at the Cold Lake Mosque last week – thank you. You helped turn a nasty piece of news into a heartwarming, community piece, displaying, as the local resident said, just what it means to be Canadian.
